


Exception

by Minuete



Series: His and Her Angst [16]
Category: The X-Files
Genre: Community: txf-prompt-box, F/M, Light Angst, Pre-FTF, Profiler Mulder, Prompt Fic, Tumblr Prompt, season 5
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-08
Updated: 2018-01-08
Packaged: 2019-03-01 22:53:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13305048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Minuete/pseuds/Minuete
Summary: Scully accidentally voices her thought out loud to Mulder.





	Exception

**Author's Note:**

> Anonymous Tumblr Prompt:“How come everyone is allowed to call you Fox except me?"

Perhaps it was due to the X-Files office burned to a crisp, or the fact that Special Agent Diana Fowley addressed him as Fox so familiarly, but it made Scully recall the people she knew or met that called Mulder by his given name. The first time she tried he pushed back, defining the professional line that she respected and she continued to maintain after her near-death experience with her abduction and then with her cancer. 

“How come everyone is allowed to call you Fox except me?" she posed this question accidentally out loud and suddenly the room felt too enclosed, almost stifling as her partner looked up at her slightly wide-eyed.  They flew to Chicago where Mulder was called in for his profiling expertise for a serial killer that the police and the local FBI had a hard time tracking down.  They were given a small conference room at the precinct station with 2 large stacks of files to go through, and were just situating themselves, when this thought came. She pushed herself out of the chair and quickly excused herself from the room, “I’ll see if the coroner’s office is ready for me.” 

“Scully—“ 

“I’ll let you know if I find anything unusual, Mulder, to help you create a profile for this UNSUB,” she cut him off as she left the room avoiding eye contact in the process.  Her mind was going a mile-a-minute chastising her for her mental lapse. She usually wasn’t one to speak out loud her thoughts, why did she start now of all times when they have a case to solve? Scully drove to the coroner’s office and spent the rest of the day meticulously examining the latest victim: a 26-year-old female with defensive wounds and blunt force trauma to the head.  However, the killer’s signature mark was a deep gash to her uterus, having her bleed to death.  Scully's key finding was that the UNSUB was left-handed based upon the depth of the wound from end-to-end. She called Mulder to relay this detail to him before she cleaned herself up.  

It was well past 8pm by the time she returned to the precinct and entered the conference room again with deli sandwiches finding Mulder engrossed with the pictures scattered of all the 6 victims. She noticed his legal notepad was filled with his notes and glanced down to try to read it. 

“You made a good catch, Scully,” he praised not looking up from the pictures as he pieced together the order of the victims, “I’m just about finished with creating a profile for this UNSUB.  It’s going to piss off the local law enforcement for their wasted efforts and lost time.” 

“What else is new?” she asked sarcastically as she placed a sandwich beside him, “It’s liverwurst.” 

“Be still my heart,” he quipped as he bit into the roast beef sandwich.  This case wasn’t as complicated as the two initially thought. It wasn’t going to be all-consuming like the Patterson case. 

“So what’s the new profile?” Scully asked as Mulder moved a couple pictures around. 

“UNSUB is a recently-divorced male between his 30’s to late 40’s with above-average intelligence and unassuming appearance. His profession allows him to be close to his victims to earn their trust. The cutting of the uterus indicates some deep-seated hatred involving fertility. It could mean he himself is suffering from male sterility.” 

“The victims age range is between 19 years of age to 30,” Scully stated, “I went through the medical history of the latest victim and discovered there was a 3.9 code.” 

“A miscarriage,” Mulder said.  He quickly sifted through the other cases fishing for the medical files. "Miscarriage, planned abortion, miscarriage... our UNSUB works in the medical profession." 

“It would explain the precision of his signature mark," Scully suggested, "Also the last victim was seen at Mercy Medical Hospital." 

"And so were the others," Mulder supplied as he quickly glanced at the medical files again. 

They spent the next day coordinating efforts to pinpoint the suspect. Within a couple hours, with all the precinct’s manpower pouring over the employee-and-contractor list, they narrowed the list down to 5 potential suspects. They were able to catch a late flight back to D.C. after the police chief thanked them for their assistance while slighting Chicago’s FBI division.  

Scully was thankful that Mulder focused on the case letting her slip-up be placed on the back burner as she leaned back in her seat once the plane reached altitude. She felt Mulder’s hand cover hers that was still tightly gripped on the arm rest as he pried them off for him to twine his fingers with hers.  

“Scully, to answer you question the other day,” Mulder started as he squeezed her fingers slightly between his. She inwardly groaned.  _Of_ _course_ _,_ _he wouldn’t forget_ , she thought, as she listened to him continue, “My name haunts me.  ‘Fox’ conjures up bad memories since Sam’s abduction. I could hear my parents’ contempt whenever they called my name. Phoebe took it to the next level when she called me a sly Fox while screwing two other dupes right under my nose. I didn’t have the heart to correct your mom from saying my name while you were missing, but she’s honestly the only one who’s able to say it without me wanting to grimace.” 

"And Bambi?" she added arching her eyebrow. Mulder rubbed his chin with his free hand sheepishly.  She could make out a faint flush on his olive skin tone. 

"Dr. Berenbaum?" he clarified and chuckled, "well, you know, Scully: smart is sexy." 

“And Agent Fowley?” Scully pressed on as she straightened herself up and tried to pry her hand away, but Mulder gripped it tighter. 

“Her way of trying to assuage my issue with my given name.  She was the one who helped me remember the events about Samantha, but…um…it obviously didn’t work.”  

She remained silent as she stared at their entwined hands lost in her own thoughts. She knew him as Mulder "the FBI’s most unwanted".  Fox grew into Mulder and she didn’t have to reconcile it, but only acknowledge it.   

“A penny for your thoughts?” Mulder asked interrupting her musings as she tucked in her chin. 

“That last stray thought was a slip-up. It doesn’t add any value to our partnership. You’ll always be Mulder as far as I’m concerned, with an eye for strange phenomena while uncovering a government conspiracy whether or not the X-Files division remains closed,” she answered.  

“And you’re Scully, ready to kickass and save  _my_  ass in the process,” he responded with a smile. She took her hand out of his then, lifting up the arm rest, as she got comfortable for the remainder of the flight resting her head against his shoulder.  She swore she felt a light kiss on top of her head, but she wasn’t so sure as she found herself dozing off to sleep.  

 

 


End file.
